The Last Stylebender v The Soldier of God
As Israel Adesanya prepares to defend his middleweight title against Yoel Romero tomorrow, Marvin France explains all you need to know about the main event of UFC 248.
The lowdown
If you don’t know who Israel Adesanya is, you probably don’t have access to the internet. The mixed martial arts sensation has had a particularly eventful past month. But just in case, here is a quick refresher . . .
Adesanya became New Zealand’s first UFC champion last April when he beat Kelvin Gastelum for the interim belt. Less than two years since joining the world’s premier MMA promotion, the undefeated Nigerian-born Kiwi capped off a meteoric rise by knocking out Robert Whittaker in front of a record crowd of almost 60,000 to unify the title in Melbourne.
An entertainer both in and outside of the octagon, Adesanya has quickly grown into one of the most marketable stars in the UFC.
Who is Yoel Romero?
Since joining the UFC in 2013, Romero
How much of a threat is Romero to Adesanya’s reign?
With a record full of highlight-reel knockouts, Romero is a danger on his feet at any point of the fight. It’s something Adesanya is well aware of, explaining recently how Romero often lulls his opponents into a false sense of security before exploding.
It’s the potential of combining these blitz attacks with his elite grappling that has many believing he poses a bad matchup for Adesanya.
Romero’s supporters claim Adesanya has never faced the level of wrestling that the Cuban possesses. But with takedown defence of 85 per cent and lightning-quick footwork, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has constantly shown that getting him to the ground is easier said than done.
A former champion kickboxer, Adesanya is a master technician on his feet. His precision striking and ability to stay in range while slipping out of the line of fire is second to none. Combined with his 16cm reach advantage, if Romero fails to take Adesanya down – and keep him there – he could be in for a long night.
What do the bookies say?
The TAB has the Kiwi starting as a $1.37 favourite. He’s paying $2.62 to win via KO/TKO and $2.80 for a decision.
Romero, meanwhile, comes in at $2.90 head to head, $3.75 for a KO/ TKO and a whopping $14 for a decision victory. Both fighters are
Who else is on the card?
The co-main event sees China’s Zhang Weili make the first defence of her women’s strawweight title against former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
The welterweight clash between Neil Magny and Li Jingliang promises to be an entertaining affair, while undefeated bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley makes his return from a two-year layoff against Jose Quinonez.
It’s also worth paying attention to Rodolfo Vieira as he makes his second UFC appearance against Saparbek Safarov in the prelims. A four-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, Vieira has made a 6-0 start to his MMA career and could be a future middleweight contender.
How to watch?
Stuff will have live updates of the main card from 3.45pm tomorrow, which is being televised on Sky’s pay-per-view service. The prelims start from 2pm on ESPN2 while the early prelims will be streamed on UFC Fight Pass from 12.15pm (all NZ time).